PaClfk Lutheran university SCene
December 1 990
26 Sports
Bi By •
For Thi rd Soccer crown
ike Larson
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here wi l l be no th ree-peat fo r the Lutes. Two- ime defending cha mpion Pac ifi c L u t h era n ' s b i d fo r an u n precedented t h i rd st ra i g h t N IA wom en 's soccer crown was thwarted Nov. 23 as top·seeded Berry Col lege (Mount Berry, Gal tu rned away the Lutes 3-1 i n overtime, The loss nded a tremendous 1 990 c a m pa i g n t hat saw t he Lutes stri ng together 20 st i g ht matches with o u t a d efeat en rou te to their th i rd stra i ght title a p pea ra n ce . PLU f i n i s h ed t h e season with a 20-3-1 mark. Berry
won its second ti Ie i n fou r years and fin ished 1 6-5-2 , ' '(T he title) was as m u ch o u rs as It wasn't," said PLU coach Col l ee n H ack e r, w h o h ap d i rected PLU to a 9 3-'1 1 -6 mark over the past five yea rs ( 87 3), " Berry is a tre m e n d o u s tea m , T il e k i d s p l a yed l i ke c h a m p i o n s N eve r before d i d they h ave to reach i n s i d e t h e m s e l ves m o re th an t h ey d i d today I feel g reat about the ga m e," she sai d , After a scoreless fi rst ha lf, Ber ry scored fi rst when J u l i e Terry fo u nd t h e net at 5 7 : 2 1 , PLU knotted the score at 1 -1 a m i n ute l at e r at 5 8 : 5 3 w h e n A I I America n j u n i o r forwa rd Wendy Joh nson weaved t h rough two
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Berry defende rs a n d dri l led an 1 8-yarder into the right side of the goa l . PLU ca me wi th i n i n ches of the potenti a l ga m e-wi n ner with a m i n ute to play I n regu la t i o n w h e n J o h nso n ' s ' 1 8 -y a rd b reakaway sh ot from the ri gil t si de na i l ed the left i nside post. Two m i n utes, 1 9 seconds i nto the fi rst overti me, Tina Conway converted a l oose free kick i n front of the goal to pu t Be rry a h e a d 2 - 1 , N i c i Co u rt n ey G ree ne's ta l l y at 94:01 sealed the w i n , " I don't know w h a t more o n earth y o u c a n ask, The most h o n est t h i n g to say i s that e v e r yt h i n g t h ey ad to g i ve, tlley gave. I don't know when I
h ave ever been m ore p ro ud , " sa i d Hacker "My biggest feel i ng r i g h t n ow i s the l oss of ou r se n i ors, n o t th e l oss of t h e ga me " J u n i o r m i dfi el der Sha r i R i d er was n a m ed th e t o u rn a m ent m ost valuable pl ayer a nd was one of th ree Lutes named to the a l l - tou rna m e n t tea m . Sop ho more forward C h eryl Kragn ess and J o h nso n were also a i l -tour n a m e n t se l ecti o ns. R i de r was named the ISAA offensive player of the year. PLU o utscored t h e opposition 84-1 1 i n 1 990. PLU's title l oss en ded t he L u tes' u n beaten stri ng at 20 matches after start ing the season 1 -2 .
Lute Gridders Win N ine, Ma e Natiana Ouarter Finals
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After entering the 1 990 ca m · paign as a relative u n k n ow n , Lute gridders exited the season as one of the best eight teams in the cou ntry. Coach F rosty Weste ring's B i g Play Lutes fel l 24-6 to Central Washington Dec. 1 i n the q uar terfi nals of the NAIA Division I I national pl ayoffs, ending a terrif ic 1 990 season that prod uced a 9-2 record and PLU's n i nth play off appearance in a dozen years. "Our best shot wasn't g ood enough," said Westeri ng, who upp ed his 1 9-year record at PLU to 1 49·41 -3 Cl8m. " B ut, even with Central's d o m i nat i o n , we had g reat opport u n i t i es . We m issed on two big pass plays i n t h e fi rst half a n d they had a g reat goal-line sta n d . Then t h ey drove down and scored on the final play of the fi rst half," he said. Two Eric Cultum field goals of 40 and 23 yards gave the Lutes a 6-3 advantage early in the sec ond qua rter. Fol low i ng a Wil dcat fumble and a 1 6-yard Ben Maier to-M ichael Welk ha lfback pass, PLU had it fi rst-a nd-goal from the Central 5-yard l i ne, but fa i led to score. CWU went 98 yards in 1 3 plays and scored on the fi nal play of the fi rst half for a 1 0-6 lead . "That was the bal l game," sa i d Weste r l n g , "(CentraD s howed w h y they were top ranked team ," he sa id, The W i l d -
cats scored i n the t h i rd and fourth q u a rters for t h e 2 4-6 fi na l , Cultum's field goa ls were PLU's only scores e n d i n g an 1 1 -year st r i n g of consec u t i ve ga mes with a to uchdown at 1 1 3 . P LU was held to m inus-1 3 yards rush ing, 1 2 3 total yards. PLU's q u a rterfi n a l game fol lowed a 3 7-3 fi rst-round victory at Concord ia (W isc.), The 1 990 season was a dandy. "We came i n as a n u n known," said Westering. "We'd l ost some b i g - n a m e peop l e a n d rea l ly weren't sure what to expect. We came out fast and got on a rol l . Central st u n ned us i n t h e fi rst g a m e (Oct. 6), but we fi n ished strong and cont i n ued to be the b i g-p,lay tea m on offense and defense. It was a very fulfi l l ing, exciting year. This group played about as close to their potential as they COUld," sa id Westering. Six individual and th ree tea m records were set d u r i n g t h e 1 9 90 season. Tight end M ichael Welk, who entered the year as PLU's career leader i n receptions, recei v i n g yards a nd touch down rece p t i ons, e n d e d h is career with 2 0 1 recept i o n s , 2 , 9 9 8 receiv i n g yards and 3 5 touch downs. K icker E ric Cu ltum beca me PLU's career k ick-scoring leader with 242 poi nts and con verted a career-record 1 64 PATs (of 1 69) a nd 26 fi e l d goals (of 34) , It was the Lutes' 22nd consec u ti ve wi n n i ng se son a nd PLU e xtended to 1 1 7 h e i r record stri n g of g a mes wi th a score. Opponents scored in a record 3 9 st ra ig h t g a m es u n t i l the Lutes sh ut-out Western Wash i n gton 21 -0 in week n u m ber seven .
Port Angeles senior Heather L ucas earned a second place finish at the NA tA national cross country champi onships Nov. 1 7.
Junior Wendy Johnson cer All-American.
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PLU's soc
Wo men R u n ners Pl ace Th i rd At Natio n a l C ross Cou ntry Meet PLU women ru n ners extended to 1 0 their string of consecutive top-six fi nishes at nationals with a third place tea m fin ish at the 1 990 NAIA Cross Cou ntry cham pionsh ips Nov. 1 7 in Kenosha, Wise., on the campus of U n i versi ty of Wisconsi n-Parkside. Lute coach Brad Moore was na med the NAIA women's cross cou ntry national coach of the year fo r the seco nd t i m e in th ree years. He was also award ed the honor during PLU's 1 988 nati on a l c ha m p i on s h i p seaso n . Moore was also named the NAIA West Re g i o n wo m e n ' cross cou ntry coach of the yea r. Port Ange l es sen ior Heather Lucas' ru nner-u p i nd ividua l plac ing led a 2-5-21 -42- 5 3 PLU f i nish w i th a 1 7: 5 8 clocking over tIle 5,000-meter Wisco n s i n cou rse, Wenatchee sen ior Kel ly Edgerton was fifth i n 1 8 :09, O l a l l a j u n ior Deirdre M u rnane finished 2 1 st in 1 8: 2 9 . Both were awarded AII America honors for their top-2 5 ind ividual fin ishes.
"I thought our to p th ree ra n very wel l," said Moore. " Fo r us to have two of the top five placers i n a race with 3 70 run ners is very good . I was happy with how we performed ." M oore sa i d the coach of the year h onor was u nexpected, "It was a p l easa nt s u r p r i se ; I ' m t h ri l led with the honor," h e sa id. PLU fi n is hed with 1 00 points, 42 beh i n d team champion West ern State, Colo., and 30 back of r u n n e r- u p c h a m p i o n A d a l11s State, Colo, Other a rea finishes George Fox, O r e . ( 6t h , 2 6 0 p O i n ts), Weste rn Wash i ngton ( 1 0t h , 3 1 8), Puget S o u nd (1 3th, 41 3), Whitworth (1 9th, 50 ) and Willamette (29th, 785). S e n i o r i rk H e l zer, th e Lu tes ' lone male entrant, pl aced 86th , H e ra n the 8 , OOO-m ter cou rse in 26:36. PLU has fi n ished 3 rd, 5th, 1 st, 3rd, 6th, 3rd, 5th, 4th, 5th a nd 3 rd i n t h e pa st 1 0 years at nationals.